Replacing the injured Roman Weidenfeller in goal, Langerak was rarely tested in the first half as Dortmund piled on the pressure at the other end to take a two-goal lead into half time thanks to goals from Kevin Grobkreutz and Robert Lewandowski.

Dortmund added a further three goals in the second half courtesy of a Jakub Blaszczykowski brace and Robert Lewandowski before Hamburg grabbed a consolation goal four minutes from time. Langerak denied Zhi-Gin Lam but his save fell into the path of Jose Guerrero who pounced to net his fifth goal of the campaign.

The defending champions are now level on points with Bayern Munchen and Schalke 04 at the summit of the Bundesliga table.

Meanwhile Matthew Leckie entered the fray with only minutes remaining as Borussia Monchengladbach completed a league double of Bayern, defeating the Bavarian club 3-1.

Elsewhere in Germany, Nikita Rukavytsya was absent from Hertha Berlin’s 2-0 defeat away to Nurnberg. The result leaves Hertha languishing in 13th place, four points above the relegation zone.

At Craven Cottage, Mark Schwarzer’s Fulham trounced Newcastle 5-2. The London side trailed 1-0 at the interval before a second half onslaught and hat-trick from Clint Dempsey secured all three points in style. Martin Jol’s men have now won four of their last five Premier League matches at home, with four of those games against teams in top seven of the table.

Still without the injured Chris Herd, Aston Villa got the better of Wolves in an entertaining match at the Molineux. Darren Bent converted an 11th minute penalty, his 99th Premier League goal before Michael Kightly restored parity ten minutes later. David Edwards headed past Shay Given on thirty-one minutes to give Wolves a 2-1 lead but a second half brace from former Wolves striker Robbie Keane left Mick McCarthy’s side without a win in eight league games.

In the Eredivisie, Brett Holman played 85 minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s 1-1 draw with Ajax at the AFAS Stadion. Having only played each other three days ago in the KNVB Beker (AZ prevailed 3-2), the two sides had to settle for a point in front of 16,761 spectators. Rasmus Elm put AZ ahead on 37 minutes before an own goal from Simon Poulsen rescued a point for Ajax 15 minutes from time.

Tommy Oar was a second half substitute in Utrecht’s 1-1 draw at home to second placed PSV. Both Adam Sarota and Michael Zullo were absent from the match day squad but Oar managed to see some game time after he replaced Enzio Boldewijn ten minutes into the second half.

In the Turkish Super Lig, James Troisi played 71 minutes as Kayserispor were comfortably beaten 4-0 away to Fenerbahce. Kayserispor are now winless in their last four games.

Carl Valeri’s Sassuolo moved level at the top of Italy’s Serie B following their 4-2 victory over Vicenza at the Stadio Alberto Braglia. Valeri put in a full shift but it was Gianluca Sansone who stole the headlines once more.

The Former Siena striker bagged a hat-trick to continue his red hot form of nine goals in five games for Sassuolo. He now has 15 goals for the season, level with Pescara’s Ciro Immobile.

Socceroo captain Lucas Neil played full 90 minutes but could not prevent Al Jazira from suffering a 2-1 loss away to 10-man Al Ahli in the UAE Pro-League. Luis Jimenez opened the scoring for the hosts in first minute and Ali Hussain added a second after the break. Bare pulled a goal back for Al Jazira with 10 minutes left to play but it proved nothing more than a consolation.

It was the same old story again for Matt McKay, the former Brisbane Roar captained failed to make the squad for Rangers 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at Ibrox Stadium.

Ryan McGowan returned to the Hearts starting lineup following suspension but they were beaten 1-0 away to Terry Butcher’s Inverness CT. Shane Sutherland scored the only goal of the game, four minutes into the second half.

Elsewhere in the Scottish Premier League, Aaron Mooy played the final nine minutes in St.Mirren’s 2-0 defeat at home to table-topping Celtic. Goals from James Forrest and Scott Brown moved Celtic further ahead of Rangers, the 2008 champions enjoy a four point buffer at the top.

In England’s NPower Championship, Scott McDonald maintained his goal scoring form but nine-man Middlesbrough were condemned to their third straight league defeat by Coventry. McDonald headed home in the 66th minute but it was too late as rock-bottom Coventry secured a crucial 3-1 win at the Ricoh Arena. Rhys Williams played 70 minutes before making way for Richard Smallwood.

Adam Federici’s Reading were beaten 1-0 by Richard Garcia’s Hull City at the Madejski Stadium, their first home defeat since November. Robbie Brady scored the only goal of the game with the win seeing Hull leapfrog Reading into the top six. The Tigers have taken 24 points since Nick Barmby took charge. Garcia did not feature in the match day squad.

Neil Kilkenny played the entire match as Bristol City moved six points clear of the relegation zone thanks to a 2-1 win over ten-man Doncaster. Chris Wood opened the scoring before Kalifa Cisse doubled the home sides advantage. El-Hadji Diouf found the back of the net to set up a tense finale but Bristol managed to hold on and record an invaluable three points.

At Bloomfield Road, Crystal Palace were defeated 2-1 by Blackpool who sit just a point outside the top six. Mile Jedinak was absent from the clash.

Following their 6-0 hammering by Birmingham last weekend, Millwall ended their run of three successive league defeats with a 3-1 victory at Barnsley. Shane Lowry was suspended for the clash but a hat-trick from Darious Henderson, his second in two games, ensured all three points for the Lions.

Ryan Williams did not feature of the bench in Portsmouth’s 3-2 loss at Cardiff City.

Over in Spain, David Carney was absent from Alcorcon’s 2-2 draw with Numancia at the Estadio Santo Domingo. Alcorcon are now without a win in their last four games.

In League One, Alex Cisak pulled off a number of fine saves as Oldham and Exeter City played out a goalless draw. James Wesolowski only played 36 minutes in the draw after he dislocated his shoulder for the second time in less then a month. Dean Bouzanis continued on the bench for Paul Dickov’s men.

In League Two, Shane Cansdell-Sherriff played all but 12 minutes in Shrewbury Town’s 2-1 win at home to Southend while Aaron Downes (On loan from Chesterfield) completed a full 90 minutes for Bristol Rovers in their 2-0 victory away to Cheltenham.

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